It is insufficiently recognised just how much the pendulum has swung against Silicon Valley in recent years. A couple of years ago, it was widely seen as heralding a glorious new technological era that would be a great boon for humanity

PKA – Michael Flycht has been appointed by PKA as deputy director for investments, with direct responsibility for listed equities, credit and absolute return. He will start his new job on 1 February 2018. Flycht will be returning to the company he previously worked for, following a five-year absence. In the intervening period, he has been head of derivatives at P+, the pensions administration firm for Danish pension funds DIP and JØP. Before leaving PKA in 2012, Flycht was a portfolio manager.

LCP – The UK consultant and actuarial firm has appointed Zuhair Mohammed as a partner in its investment team. He joins from Aon Hewitt where he worked for 10 years, and has also worked at P-Solve, Alexander Clay & Partners and Noble Lowndes. Mohammed is also one of only two consultants among the members of the 300 Club, a think tank of global pension and investment professionals. He said: “I’m excited to be joining a consulting business that has a refreshing clarity of purpose built around clients and to have the opportunity to make a real difference.”

Old Mutual Global Investors – Freddie Woolfe joined the manager as head of responsible investment and stewardship on 13 November. He was most recently at Newton Investment Management, where he was responsible investment analyst primarily covering the healthcare and technology, media and telecommunications sectors. Before that he worked at Hermes Equity Ownership Services as associate director and head of UK engagement. Woolfe is picking up the responsibilities of Paul Emerton, who left OMGI earlier this year.

DNB – The Dutch State has appointed Tom de Swaan as a member of the supervisory board (RvC) of financial regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). De Swaan is an economist and has ample experience as a prudential supervisor, board member and internal supervisor in the financial sector. Since 1986, he has worked as supervisory director at DNB, as chief financial officer at ABN Amro, non-executive board member of the UK’s Financial Services Authority, and as chair of the RvC at Van Lanschot. Currently, De Swaan is chair of the board of Zurich Insurance Group, a position he will give up before the start of his term at DNB on 1 June 2018.

Insight Investment – Detlef Schoen has been appointed as head of real assets for the manager’s farmland investments. He joined Insight in August. Reza Vishkai, who was formerly the head of real assets, has moved to a newly created consultative role and will continue to advise and provide oversight to the farmland investment team.

Hermes GPE – The private equity arm of Hermes Investment Management has hired Sanjeev Phakey from the Universities Superannuation Scheme to focus on fund and co-investments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The asset manager has also appointed Fidel Manolopoulos to work on its direct investments and partnerships with investors and general partners across Europe and North America. Manolopoulos joins from Mojo Capital, a specialist fintech investment group based in Luxembourg.

Redington – The UK investment consultant has appointed its first chief technology officer. Adam Jones has joined the company from Altus Consulting, a financial technology consultant, where he was head of innovation. He will be responsible for Redington’s technology strategy.

Sustineri – Martina Macpherson has joined the low carbon advisory firm, having previously been at S&P Dow Jones Indices. She was most recently head of ESG research and analysis at the index provider, having been promoted to that role in the summer. Before that she was head of ESG indices. She joined S&P in 2016. Prior to joining, she served as founder and managing partner at SI Partners, an independent ESG consulting firm. She sits on the board of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets.

Kring van Pensioenspecialisten (KPS) – The Dutch organisation for pension professionals has named Henk-Jan Strang as board member with responsibility for strategy and development. Strang has been an independent adviser and interim manager in the pensions sector since 2006 when he left consultancy PwC, where he had worked since 1989. At KPS, he will focus on the impact of new technologies, consolidation and pensions reform, and the changing consumer, as well as on supervision, governance and legislation. Strang succeeds Annemiek Vollebroek, who had been a board member at KPS since August 2011.

GRI – Eric Hespenheide has been appointed as the chairman of the GRI board of directors, effective 1 January. A familiar figure in the sustainability reporting world, he will replace Christianna Wood. Hespenheide previously served as chairman of the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board and subsequently as the interim chief executive of GRI, where he led the roll-out of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. Hespenheide was previously a partner at Deloitte. The GRI is an organisation focussed on improving the reporting and communication of sustainability issues.

Robeco – The €152bn asset manager has appointed Christoph von Reiche as head of global distribution and marketing. He also joins the executive committee. Von Reiche will be responsible for the company’s worldwide strategy and sales organisation, as well as for marketing and consultant relations. He joins from JP Morgan Asset Management in London, where he was head of European institutional business. Between 1995 and 2014 Von Reiche worked at Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt. His positions there included head of Germany for its asset management arm.

Principles for Responsible Investment – The PRI is seeking French-speaking investors for its Francophonie Advisory Committee. A notice on the group’s website said it wanted to appoint two members from France-based signatories to the principles, as well as one each from the French-speaking regions of Canada, Africa and Europe. The committee is chaired by Daniel Simard, CEO of Bâtirente, a Quebec-based pension fund. It has been launched to help guide the PRI’s operations in French-speaking countries.

ClearBridge Investments – The global equity manager and subsidiary of Legg Mason has named James Arnold as business development manager, based in London. He joins from Goodhart Partners, an institutional equity boutique manager. He will be responsible for growing the group’s European presence and distribution.

Franklin Templeton Investments – Bérengère Blaszczyk has been promoted to head of distribution for France and the Benelux region at the US investment giant. The new role takes effect from 1 December and will give her oversight of retail and institutional sales and marketing teams in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. She has worked at Franklin Templeton for 15 years and is currently country head for Benelux.

KPMG – The accounting and consultancy giant has promoted two partners and five directors from within its UK pensions team. James Riley and David O’Hara have been promoted to partner, while Iain McLellan, Kerry Oakes, Claire Whittaker, James Keclik and Laura Higgins have all been appointed as directors.

London & Capital – Kate Miller has joined the $1bn asset manager as head of institutions. She comes from P-Solve where she was a consultant. Before that, she was a consultant and chief operating officer at Meridian Investment Consultancy.

Xafinity/National Pension Trust – Consultancy group Xafinity’s defined contribution (DC) master trust has appointed two new senior staff. The National Pension Trust has hired Andy Flynn from Zurich as head of DC communications and Jonathan Hight-Warburton as bid manager – he previously worked at Xerox.